Players will not be able to challenge umpires' decisions during the upcoming Ashes series between England and Australia, which starts in July, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced here Tuesday.

Instead cricket's controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) is set to be introduced permanently into the Test arena on the basis of a "phased roll-out" from October 2009, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told reporters.

Lorgat was speaking at Lord's where the ICC's cricket committee, chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd and including leading Australian umpire Simon Taufel, had been meeting for two days to consider its response to the results of nine months' worth of trials.

The system gave players the opportunity to request a review by the third umpire of a decision made by the on-field umpire they believed was wrong.

Significantly, this was the first time players had been allowed to challenge a decision.

Once a player asked for a referral, the third umpire was able to view replays and relay information back to the umpire on the field who then had to decide whether or not to reverse his original decision.

The cricket committee, chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, said it believed the new system, for all its faults, reduced instances of bad decisions.

However, the cricket committee can only make recommendations.

A final decision on whether the new system will become a permanent feature of Test cricket will be taken by the ICC's chief executives committee and their main board, whose next meetings are due to take place during the global governing body's annual conference week at Lord's from June 22-26.

"I'm excited that the committee concluded the umpire decision review system had a positive effect on the game," said Lorgat. "It reduced the number of incorrect decisions and also cut down on instances of player dissent.

"We will seek (provided the ICC chief executives and board agree) to roll out the system from October 2009.

"The time ahead of that date will allow us to firm up the playing conditions, technical specifications and protocols, ensure additional training for match officials and further brief the players so that the process can be successfully implemented."

The South African added: "We had a fair amount of feedback from players and most of it was positive. They accept the fundamental thing that we want to get decisions right."

However, Lorgat said that from October the plan was for sides to be limited to two unsuccessful appeals per innings as was the case during the West Indies-England series in February and March.

There was an understanding the third umpire would advise his on-field colleague to change their minds only if they had made an obvious error.

But some third umpires were criticised for effectively 'over-ruling' the standing umpires when their decisions could, in the opinion of many observers, fairly have gone in favour of either side.

"The protocols were clear, maybe the application was not so good. It's the really bad errors we want to eliminate," Lorgat explained.

Lloyd, asked if the referral system would have been of any use in his day as a player recalled an incident at Lord's in 1976. "Right here. The ball hit my pad, Alan Knott dived and took the catch. I reminded Derek about it the either day. He said I know you didn't hit but I said 'you appealed'."

The committee also looked into the possibility of playing day/night Test cricket, and staging a trial five-day game under lights in 2010.

But first they said more research was needed on finding a suitable ball, with the standard red one unsuitable for floodlit cricket, while Lloyd pointed out the effect of early evening dew would also have to be considered.

Trials with light green and pink balls are currently taking place.

The committee also said there was no need to alter the present format of 50-overs per side international cricket, amidst concerns the format was becoming jaded in the Twenty20 era, and that there was not a need to impose weight restrictions on bat.

It also said it had no problems with 'double-sided' bats and said the 'switch-hit', as pioneered by Kevin Pietersen, should remain legal.

The committee also called for stricter enforcement of rules on over-rates, and the doubling of fines for slow play, so as to cut down time-wasting by both batting and bowling sides.

Lorgat said it was vital Test match over-rates were maintained or improved so the five-day game could continue to "engage" with spectators.